About 11,000 people who’ve been getting extended unemployment benefits will lose them this week.
Michigan qualified for the federal extended unemployment benefits because its unemployment rate was so high. But Michigan has had three months below the threshold and the feds put the state on notice.
“The Department of Labor notified us that the state of Michigan is no longer eligible for extended benefits,” said Liza Estlund Olson, the acting director of the Unemployment Insurance Agency.
The agency started letting the people affected know last month.
“But we have notified them that they might be eligible for the PEUC program or the PUA program and we’ve told them how they can apply for both,” she said.
PEUC is Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation and PUA is Pandemic Unemployment Assistance. If people don’t qualify and can’t find a job, the only alternative is welfare.
